Magdeburg hemisphere
Magdeburg hemisphere noun: either of a pair of large copper hemispheres, with mating rims, that were used to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum and could not be pulled apart even by teams of horses.
Noun
Magdeburg hemisphere (plural Magdeburg hemispheres)
- Either of a pair of large copper hemispheres, with mating rims, that were used to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum and could not be pulled apart even by teams of horses.
Forms of Magdeburg hemisphere
| plural | Magdeburg hemispheres |
|---|
Origin of Magdeburg hemisphere
They were designed by Otto von Guericke, a German scientist and mayor of Magdeburg, in 1656.
Questions about Magdeburg hemisphere
- What does Magdeburg hemisphere mean?
- Magdeburg hemisphere means either of a pair of large copper hemispheres, with mating rims, that were used to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum and could not be pulled apart even by teams of horses.
- What part of speech is Magdeburg hemisphere?
- Magdeburg hemisphere is a noun.
- What is the plural of Magdeburg hemisphere?
- The plural of Magdeburg hemisphere is Magdeburg hemispheres.
Words near Magdeburg hemisphere in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Magdeburg hemisphere (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “Magdeburg hemisphere.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/magdeburg_hemisphere. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.